arc3 · 178-ch178

Chapter 178: Leveling Up Smoothly

(Here it comes!)

My left foot must have crossed into the Bite Dog's alert radius, because it let out a growl and came charging straight at me. But it was an F-rank monster through and through — it didn't even seem to register what my weapon was, and pounced without a single thought in its head.

Matching my timing to its charge, I stepped out with my right foot, twisting my body. The black-bladed katana arrives a beat behind.

Zash!

The Bite Dog, helpless in midair, was split from nose to tail into top and bottom halves, and both fell to the ground.

【You defeated the Bite Dog】

Since I'd felled it myself, seeing that message was a special kind of satisfying. Incidentally, the monsters Shiden and Hayate defeat keep popping up on screen without pause, but I'm making a point of not keeping track.

Once the Bite Dog's message faded, I flicked the blood off my katana and picked up the Magic Stone. This whole sequence felt so explorer-like that I could feel my spirits climbing with every move. Man, I am explorering so hard right now!

Two more Mana Potions down the hatch, and onward I went. These potions get absorbed into your body and converted to mana right away, so as long as you're actually burning mana, your stomach never ends up sloshing full. Mana Potions are the best!

Incidentally, drink one while your MP is already topped off, and it properly pools in your stomach. Worse still, you apparently end up mana-drunk and monumentally sick. When I heard that, I swore to myself I would absolutely never try it.

The level-up's benefits really do show: a single F-rank monster is apparently easy pickings now. Be nice to try fighting several at once next, I thought — and right on cue, three Bite Dogs appeared.

Maybe it was having backup this time, but the moment they laid eyes on me, the Bite Dogs came bounding over without a hint of hesitation. F-ranks to the last, I suppose — can't even tell how strong their opponent is.

No coordination, no teamwork — they just attacked in the order they arrived. I sidestepped the first and cut it down in a single stroke. For the second, I closed the gap myself and pierced it through the brow before it could leap. The last one had the cheek to flit sideways and throw a feint at me — but I'd read the move, followed it without losing a half-step, and took its head off.

【You defeated the Bite Dog】

【You defeated the Bite Dog】

【You defeated the Dead Wizard】

【You defeated the Bite Dog】

Whoops — something odd got mixed in there, but never mind. At F-rank, even three at once is apparently no problem. Nothing but monsters of this stripe show up before floor ten, so onward and deeper we go.

Pushing through by the shortest route like that, it took me about four hours to reach floor six.

(My first-ever lunch inside a dungeon! I'm way too excited about this!)

I sat down around the middle of the staircase to floor six, and — pretending to take them out of my bag — pulled Mom's homemade sandwiches out of Storage.

A view I'd only ever been able to see through a drone's lens now spread out right before my eyes. A plain staircase of unadorned rock it may have been — but for me, it made for a lunch more thrilling than any fancy restaurant.

"Um, excuse me. Would you happen to have any spare Low-grade Potions?"

I was in the middle of eating my transcendentally delicious katsu sandwich when an explorer coming up from below called out to me. A brown-haired guy, about my age or maybe a touch older — and it seemed he'd been climbing the stairs while letting an equally young black-haired man, presumably his party member, lean on his shoulder.

The black-haired man was bleeding from his right thigh. A Bite Dog bite, most likely. It didn't look life-threatening, but unless the wound got closed, even getting out of the dungeon would be a challenge.

"Um, I do have spares, but I can't exactly just hand one over for free..."

Had it been a matter of life or death, I'd have given them up without a second thought — but it didn't look that dire, so I thought I'd check whether they intended to pay, just in case.

"Oh — of course we'll pay. Could you sell us one?"

Hmm. Willing to pay, are we? Then there's no problem at all. Let me sell you one, by all means.

"No problem. That'll be 11,000 yen for one — does that work?"

"Huh? That's cheap! That's the exact same price as the potions SS-san sells!"

Uho!? I'd quoted the same price without thinking, simply because that's what I always sell at — and it turns out they know SS's prices cold. My heart skipped a beat there for a second.

"Oh, is that so? It is inside a dungeon, so technically it's ten percent over what I paid for it — but if it seems cheap to you, I'm glad to hear it. Here you go."

I reached into my Storage — which goes by the name of "bag" — to take out a Low-grade Potion and hand it over, when—

"Oh no, wait — we don't have any cash on us... I've got my Explorer Card, but there's no way I can pay with this, right..."

Well, fair enough. Not many people carry cash into a dungeon. There is a machine that takes card payments — but I obviously can't be pulling that out. Magic Stone payment would work, but they probably don't want to hand over their Magic Stones either. Now, what to do. I mean, I could honestly just give them a potion.

I didn't want this eating up my day, and just as I was about to offer the potion for free, the blond man came up with a proposal.

"Um, if you don't mind — would you like to take down the floor-ten boss with us? Then we can return to floor one by Transfer Stone, and my wallet's in the bag I checked at the entrance, so I can pay you there."

Hmm. Honestly, partying up has almost no upside for me — but it doesn't carry any real downside either. And when I thought about it that way... I had come all the way to a dungeon, after all. Some part of me had gotten curious what the experience of fighting alongside companions would be like.

"Very well. I was heading for floor ten myself, so please, let me join you. First, the potion — let's get your friend's wound patched up."

I handed the potion over, and the blond dripped it onto the black-haired man's wound. The bleeding stopped at once.

"Thank you so much! C'mon, you thank him too!"

"Um. Thanks."

Prompted by the blond, the black-haired man thanked me too. But good grief, that voice was tiny. Could it be — is this guy socially awkward? Huh. I feel this strange kinship.

"Not at all — in a dungeon, helping each other out is what it's all about."

Quite the noble line for the guy who just asked for payment, if I do say so myself.

With the wound healed, the two of them seemed to settle in for their own lunches. I bit back into my half-eaten sandwich, and for a while, the three of us enjoyed lunch together.